


Force Majeure

by nihilistshiro



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Lance is a firebender, M/M, Shiro and Keith are waterbenders, avatar AU, more characters will come into play!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:40:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nihilistshiro/pseuds/nihilistshiro
Summary: Lance is a firebender. But he's never been able to control his firebending, so it's something he hides.His biggest secret.
Relationships: Keith/Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 199





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Force majeure (noun) - irresistible compulsion or greater force.
> 
> Ahhhh!! This is kind of exploding into something real, huh??? I hope you are enjoying it so far!!

Lance is a firebender. But he's never been able to control his firebending, so it's something he hides. His biggest secret.

His friends think he's a non-bender from the water tribe and he's let them. It's true that Lance loves the ocean. The constant, rolling waves can wash away fire's destruction. He likes to stay close in case he loses control. In case he hurts someone.

This love of water is what initially draws him to Shiro and Keith. Two water benders (based on zodiac) who he becomes close to. They live in the same village and he sees them together often. The best waterbenders in the area, and gorgeous to boot.

At first, he can't tell what their relationship is, but one day he sees them kissing in an alley and he understands.

There's nothing he wants more than to get close to them, but Lance doesn't get close to anyone. Not anymore. He's living in a self-determined exile after the incident. Almost ten years ago now, but still a fresh wound. The scar on his back would be a lifelong reminder.

* * *

_[9 YEARS EARLIER]_

"I can't get it right!"

10-year-old Lance kicked at the dirt, grunting as he dropped from his stance.

"Lightning bending isn't firebending. You need to focus on your breathing more. Slow down."

"If I can't firebend all that well, why are you teaching me this?"

Veronica chuckled, ruffling Lance's hair.

"Because learning different techniques will help you focus and improve your overall bending. Besides, we're not actually using lightning. We're just learning this move. Come on, I thought you said Iroh was your hero."

Lance huffed.

"I can do it."

He faced his sister and they got back into their stances, practicing the flow of energy and focusing on redirecting it through the stomach. Lance closed his eyes to concentrate, breathing in the balmy night air. Everyone else was sleeping. The night peaceful.

"Focus. Breath."

Lance focused. He breathed.

And without meaning to, he sent a spark of lighting straight at the roof of his family's modest cottage.

"No!"

Ronnie was running toward it before Lance even realized what he'd done. The house was ablaze, his parents rushing out.

One after another, his siblings ran from the house, now completely engulfed and smoking black into the night.

"Where's Lila?" Lance cried out into the night. "Where's Lila?!"

His non-bending twin was not amongst his siblings.

Lance rushed toward the house, his sister and mother already trying to pull back the flames. Lance stopped between them, putting up his hands to help.

"Lila!" he screamed, and in his efforts to assist, he made matters worse. The fire exploded, sending everyone flying.

When Lance came to, the fire squad of fire and water benders were attempting to put out the sprawling blaze.

It crackling high into the night sky, smoke blocking out the stars.

"Please, we have one more daughter," his mother was begging, his father restraining her.

A firefighter came over, bowing low. "I'm sorry, ma'am. She didn't make it."

Lance's ears were ringing, his eyes watering. His gaze flew around. Veronica was getting treated for a severe burn on his arm. His older siblings (also non-benders) were crying, consoling each other.

It was a nightmare.

But Lance couldn't wake up. He did the only thing he could think of.

He ran.

* * *

The winters in the Northern Water Tribe were the hardest part for Lance to adjust to. He'd learned to appreciate the cold and the cuisine, but around the winter solstice, things always got so frozen that Lance was miserable.

It had taken him a few months of journeying before he finally landed in northern waters. At first, he'd been terrified. The fire nation was still rebuilding trust with the rest of the world and not everyone was happy about it, but without his bending, Lance fit right in.

He met Shiro and Keith at the tribe's fortress where he was employed part-time. He'd stumbled onto the training grounds after running out of money, and the commander in charge decided to give Lance a place to stay and a job cleaning up the classrooms after water bending practice.

Shiro and Keith instructed incoming cadets with the basics of fighting with water bending.

Lance watched them often, mesmerized at their precision and control. Shiro was an expert strategist and his bending always manifested in graceful flurries of complicated technique.

Keith was different. He fought with brute force, something primal and ancient about his water bending movements that almost mimicked the original fire bending forms Lance remembered reading about in school.

Keith preferred ice, often sharpening it into two deadly blades.

It was early morning when Lance got to the base for his next shift. He wanted to get his cleaning out of the way so that he could leave before Shiro showed up for his first class.

Shiro was a hero among the waterbenders. His skills were unparalleled, and he's survived a rough stint at Boiling Rock during the war.

There was something about Shiro's aura that was kind and forgiving, and Lance wanted to melt into it. He often found himself lingering around Shiro's classes, watching him train the newest of recruits.

He did such a good job of building up their confidence.

Lance often found himself daydreaming, wishing he could waterbend just so he could have an excuse to get closer to Shiro. He was a private guy, who really only had Keith for company. And now that Lance knew they were together, he needed to put his little crush behind him.

Lance was sweeping up the training room when Shiro walked in.

"Hey, Lance! Getting an early start?" Shiro asked, dropping his satchel to the ground.

There was a white streak in his long, jet black hair, and he braided it back, the long, silky rope dangling down his back.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Lance said, startled by the intrusion.

He dropped his broom to the ground and brought his hands together in a bow. "Just wanted to make sure the room was clean for you, sir."

Shiro gave Lance that soft smile that was sweet and pure but also had a layer of sympathy that Lance didn't want. It was part of the reason he couldn't stand being around his crush. He didn't want Shiro to pity him.

"I'm just about done, so I'll be out of your hair momentarily," Lance said, picking up his broom and getting back to work.

"No rush," Shiro replied, giving Lance some space.

They moved about the room in silence until they were interrupted by one of the other soldiers who came bursting in.

"What is it?" Shiro asked.

"The Galra. They're here."

Shiro's face grew hard. 

"Tell the chief," Shiro said, already reaching for his armor. "We need to prepare for war."


	2. Chapter 2

Keith looked out at the glowing purple fire stretched across the icy horizon.

“I can’t tell how many, but it doesn’t look good,” he said, as his mother and Antok came to stand beside him. “We need to get closer.”

“You two get ready for a fight,” Krolia ordered, already in motion. “I’ll ride out to meet them.”

She sprinted toward the edge of the glacial plateau, her arms moving as she started bending the ice. Beneath her, a giant ice lion broke from the cliff, forming as she leaped into the air. Krolia landed on it’s back, the great beast charging forth, a signature bending technique known only to her clan.

“I’ll take the western edge,” Antok said, unraveling chains from each wrist. They dipped into the ice, wrapping up the linked metal and forming sharp, curved sickles, and he used them to careen down the cliff’s edge.

Keith took off in the opposite direction. Like his mother, Keith preferred to work with ice en masse. He surged over to a crest where he had the high ground over the approaching Galra, swiping a hand along the ridge to create a high embankment. 

Keith centered himself on his wall, spreading his feet and assuming a powerful stance. The ground trembled as three sheets of ice slid down from the side, making room for massive crossbows made of ice. Keith grunted as he moved his body, squatting low and thrusting his arms up, rows upon rows of massive ice arrows erupting behind him, forming a formidable arsenal.

Across the snowy battlefield, Krolia was almost to the front line, her giant ice lion growling beneath her. She pulled a bow from her back and made three arrows of ice, shooting them toward the Galra. 

Three purple flames flew up from the Galra ranks to deflect, but Krolia was ready, already knocking fresh arrows in her bow.

Antok neared the footsoldiers on the western flank, using his bending to imprison them through the snow.

Fireballs shot from the sky, but Keith was quick to arm his enormous weapons, firing arrows the size of hogmonkeys toward the enemy. The battle between the long-range weapons was intense. More waterbenders pooled over the hill around Keith, rocketing down to the trenches to hold off the foot soldiers.

it took Keith the better part of the hour to destroy their catapults, and once his task was complete, Keith searched the horizon for the witch who was the source of the Galra’s power — Haggar.

Her flames were poisoned by the dark energy of Vaatu, and she was the servant of Emperor Zarkon, whose armies absorbed the angry fighters leftover from Ozai’s regime, pledging their allegiance to him. 

Keith couldn’t spot Haggar among them, but they were still some distance away, Antok and Krolia attacking so that the Galra were forced to close ranks. He decided to get in closer, summoning his ice familiar, Red — a magnificent lion who took after his mother’s. 

Red purred happily as Keith leapt on her back, and they shot off, tearing across the ice and into the fray. 

Keith pulled a hilt from his belt and used his bending to manifest a deadly blade. 

He rode closer to the purple fire, where he would no doubt find his target. Once Keith had Haggar’s head, this whole thing would be over. 

Ahead, he saw his mother approaching the concentration of purple flames. There were at least a half dozen skilled warriors, maybe even generals, protecting one master firebender. That must be her.

Keith charged forward, swinging his blade and sending the sharp ice slicing through the air in time to knock down one of the generals. He replaced his sword with another, and another, slashing his way closer. 

He leaped off of Red, bending apart her form to create a set of spears. Keith aimed carefully, his last spear soaring toward the master, a dark indigo hood hiding their features. The figure turned just in time and the spike stopped in mid-air. 

Keith gasped as it burst to flame, the ice melting in gooey drops. A hand shot out as the master began bending again, and Keith noticed they were not bending fire, but air. 

It made no sense. 

Keith rolled a great snow wave beneath himself, knocking out the soldiers standing between him and the master and their inner guard. Krolia was charging up behind him on her lion, her great bow knocked with arrows that bore angry-looking teeth.

Krolia fired, and one of the generals propelled themselves into the sky — another airbender. The airbender spun and stopped the arrows with her bending, igniting them immediately.

“What is this?” Keith yelled at his mother, who came to a stop at his side. 

She held out her hand and Keith took it, swinging up behind her. He began launching an attack as they circled the group of talented airbenders, all of them able to deflect all ice bending with their impossible airbending technique.

“They’re igniting the ice!” Krolia shouted, throwing up wall after wall, only to have the airbenders melt every attempted offense. “I don’t understand how, but we cannot fight them like this.”

She gazed around and spotted Antok, along with her commanders — Thace, Ulaz, and Sendak. 

“Go!” she screamed at Keith, knocking him onto the ground.

Krolia used her ice bending to carve a massive hole in the ice, her lion defending her from the airbenders while she worked.

“Keith, you have to get back to the city. Warn Shiro and the others!”

She grunted, her lion beginning to melt, no longer animated, but an ice statue blockade. Keith matched his mother's bending, their combined power creating the sinkhole. The airbenders dropped down so far, they were lost to daylight.

“That will buy you time,” Krolia said, kneeling next to Keith.

She cupped his face. “Go now, little one, while the sun is setting. We will hold them off until nightfall, when our forces will be at their full strength.”

Keith held his mother’s gaze, his brow furrowed. 

“I’ll come back for you.”

She smiled. “Not if I get back to you first.”

Keith tore his gaze away, summoning Red, who appeared at his side. He grabbed her icy fur and flung himself onto her, not looking back as he sped away.

**Author's Note:**

> EEEEEE
> 
> Thank you to Cata, Kriss, Seki, and Leah for helping me brainstorm this!!! There will definitely be more where that came from (also can't wait to introduce some more characters and add more SEXUAL TENSION).
> 
> This originated on Twitter, so we'll probably be screeching about it there XD --> @NihilistShiro


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